Breathe
by Kimmi-chan92
Summary: A simple mission gone wrong. Now Sakura's life hangs in the balance, and Sasuke blames himself. Rated T for violence and minor language.
1. Chapter 1

Breathe

How had this happened? How could things have gone so terribly wrong?

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his hands clenching into fists as he sat on the side of the bed in the hospital room in which he was confined. He had been admitted for minor cuts and bruises, and Naruto had also been assigned a room with injuries similar to his own. But Sakura...

He ground his teeth together again and swung his arm to collide with the headboard in frustration, causing it to tremble beneath his fist. How could he have been so careless?

Minutes earlier, Team Seven had returned from what was supposed to be a simple escort mission that they had been assigned a few days prior. The destination was a small village just outside of Fire Country, and the journey there had been relatively uneventful, though with Naruto's constant babbling and eye-roll-inducing antics, it had hardly been dull.

That morning, after bidding farewell to their client,- a fairly wealthy merchant who made his living selling perfumes and spices- Team Seven started back home to Konoha with Naruto bounding ahead of Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke in his eagerness. The three less exuberant members of Team Seven elected to stroll along at a more leisurely pace than their blonde counterpart; because the journey there had gone without a hitch and they were now freed from having to travel more slowly for their client, they had ample time to make it back to the village before nightfall.

When they were a little over two hours out from the village, Kakashi called for a short breather so they could refill their canteens at the small stream that ran beside the forested path they were taking. They took turns kneeling by the stream, one person filling up their canteen while the other three watched the surrounding trees for any threat, just as a precaution.

"Ok, Sakura," Kakashi motioned to the kunoichi as he straightened up from his position by the stream. "You're up."

"Hai," Sakura replied, moving from her place in between Sasuke, who was staring detachedly down the path which eventually disappeared into the trees, and Naruto, who despite his seemingly boundless energy, had decided to adopt the slower pace of his team rather than face the tedium of solitude. For nearly half an hour, the boisterous blonde had whined about the simple nature of their mission, only pausing in his complaints to conjure up various fantasies in which he could show off his "totally awesome" skills and prove he was better than his stoic rival.

"Dobe," Sasuke had muttered.

Their impending argument had been cut short when Sakura shot a deadly glare at both of them, effectively silencing Naruto. Once Naruto shut up, Sasuke deemed it unnecessary to argue further; that, and he had been a little taken aback at being on the receiving end of Sakura's wrath. She had been irritable and quiet for the majority of the trip, a rather drastic change from her normally bubbly and cheerful demeanor. Her teammates had noticed these changes, and snuck sidelong glances at her now and then. Kakashi had advised them to just let her be, however, so they left it alone.

One reason for her odd behavior was their client. From the moment they set out from Konoha, he had virtually attached himself to her side, chattering nearly nonstop the entire trip. He had walked beside her when they traveled during the day and sat beside her at meals. Because they had to travel at a slower pace so he could keep up, the journey there, which would have normally lasted only a day, had taken them three days to complete. There were no villages in between Konoha and their destination, which meant they had had to spend two nights in the wilderness. They housed their client in the only tent, leaving the team to sleep on bedrolls exposed to the elements. And whose bedroll had he insisted the tent be pitched beside? Why Sakura's, of course. The first night, he sat at the opening of the tent and attempted to strike up another conversation with her. She had sighed inwardly, feigning interest, but was soon rescued by Kakashi when he suggested they all turn in for the night. She'd thrown him a grateful look and he responded with one of his eye crinkling smiles. The next night, Sakura had laid down in her bedroll before anyone else and pretended to be asleep when their client called her name. When she had not answered, he had given up and turned in for the night.

She was relieved to finally be rid of him. Sure, he was nice, but he was close to forty, and he was just a little too creepy- er- friendly for her liking.

His behavior was the main cause of her foul mood. But aside from that, she was just plain tired. She had gotten almost no sleep the week leading up to their mission because she was nursing her mother who had been extremely ill with a high fever. Thankfully, her mother was recovering nicely, but the entire process had been draining for both of them.

All Sakura wanted now was to get home and get a good night's sleep.

As she lowered her canteen into the stream, Naruto launched into another loud monologue, this time about hurrying back to Konoha to get his ramen fix at Ichiraku.

"I miss my ramen, 'ttebayo!" he concluded, whining dramatically.

"It's only been four days, dobe," Sasuke replied. He never moved his glare from the shadowed path that curved into the distance, but you could practically hear the eye-roll that would normally have accompanied such a statement.

"That's four days too many," Naruto pouted, emphatically crossing his arms.

Sakura sighed quietly as she finished screwing the lid back on her canteen. '_These two never change,_' she thought tiredly. She reached down and brought some water to her face, relishing in the feeling of the cool moisture on her flushed, sweaty skin. Maybe a nice long shower before she collapsed in bed and slept for three days straight...

She abruptly broke off her musings and froze, hands still placed against her cheeks, as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw first Kakashi, and then Sasuke stiffen as well. Always the worst at reading the mood, Naruto was last to notice his team's heightened awareness.

"Wha-"

_THUNK!_

He was cut off by a kunai which landed directly in the middle of the four of them. There was a moment of complete silence, then:

"Down!" Kakashi's order split the air. Sakura barely had time to turn her head and register the explosive tag attached to the handle of the kunai when-

**_BOOM!_**

The boys of Team Seven had managed to duck in cover, but Sakura, still in her crouched position by the stream, was flung headfirst into the water by the force of the blast. She managed to duck her head and roll, skidding to a stop in the middle of the stream on her back. She swallowed the urge to cry out as the sharp rocks in the stream tore through the fabric of her red dress and into the flesh of her back.

The air was suddenly filled with the shouts of the enemy as they took advantage of the momentary confusion their explosion had caused. Sakura sat up as about ten rogue ninjas came bursting through the trees and brush. Most of them set their focus on Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, who had recovered quickly after the blast and were crouched into defensive stances. However, one of the nins attacking from the trees noticed Sakura in her vulnerable position and leapt from the branch he had been standing on, plummeting towards her with his tanto raised, poised to strike a fatal blow. Sakura, still in a sitting position in the middle of the stream, frantically reached for her weapons pouch and whipped out a kunai. With no time to get to her feet, she raised the kunai in front of her defensively as the rogue nin's tanto came flashing down towards her face, just managing to block the deadly strike. The enemy sneered down at her, his face just inches from her own as he used his leverage to bear down on her, pushing his blade against her own in a battle of strength.

A battle she was rapidly losing.

She registered metal clashing against metal and her teammates' voices as they shouted out jutsus, battle cries, and each others' names. Her name. She felt something inside of her solidify. Her entire focus snapped back to the man above her and determination took over her features. She would not be weak. She would not be the same useless little girl, the weak link of the team who always had to be rescued and protected. When the nin above her saw the change in her features, his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise before the sneer crept back onto his face and intensified until he was grinning at her mockingly. She felt anger boil up inside her and prepared to counter attack.

She thought back to Kakashi's tree-climbing lesson in the Land of Waves. As she was the best at chakra control on her team, she had completed the training with ease. Keeping the lesson in mind, she channeled chakra to her feet. Then, gritting her teeth, she took advantage of her sitting position and abruptly dropped onto her back, doing her best to ignore the burning pain from her torn skin, and brought her legs up, knees bent at a little over ninety degrees. In his surprise, the nin looming over her briefly lost his balance and began to fall on top of her. Just as the man was about to right himself, Sakura brought her knees nearly to her chest and then shot them forward, making solid contact with his chest with both of her chakra-infused feet. The man flew back several feet before colliding painfully with the tree he had been standing in a few minutes ago.

Sakura used this time to quickly get to her feet and slip into a defensive crouch. The rogue was also quick to regain his footing, and Sakura deflated a bit at how easily he had recovered from her attack. She was given no time to dwell on the fact, however, for the man promptly unleashed a flurry of kunai and shuriken, sending them hurtling her way. She hopped backwards, deflecting as many of the weapons as she could. Her actions granted her a brief glance of Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke, and she released a grateful sigh when they all appeared to be mostly unharmed. They had cut the number of attackers to three, four including the nin she was currently facing.

She felt a spark of relief; they would be alright! They would win this! She quickly returned her full focus to the deadly weapons whistling towards her, inwardly cursing herself for her brief mental lapse as she felt the sting of metal grazing her right cheek and left bicep. She continued to block and dodge, engaged in a deadly dance with the razor-sharp weapons; one misstep would mean her death.

Just as the last of the projectiles clattered to the ground, the rogue nin appeared directly in front of her. Sakura had been distracted with parrying his weapons, and he had taken advantage of that time to inch closer without her noticing. His tanto flashed towards her again and she, just like before, raised her kunai to block his attack. He was trying to draw her into close combat, she realized. But why? A second later, she got her answer.

As the nin once again leaned into his blade, two small pipes popped out of the ends of his sleeves, pointed directly at her.

'_What the_-'

_PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH!_

Her thoughts were cut short when a foul smelling, dirt-colored gas shot out of the ends of the tubes, straight into her face.

Sasuke and Naruto, who had just teamed up and finished off one of the remaining rogues, spun around at the sound of Sakura's startled yell.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed. He took off towards his pink-haired teammate with Sasuke on his heels, leaving Kakashi to deal with the remaining two enemies they had been fighting.

Sasuke quickly took in the situation. By tricking her into thinking she was safe because his hands were occupied, the nin Sakura was facing had surprised her with a hidden attack. Now he was keeping her trapped in the noxious cloud by using his weight to his advantage and pinning her down, his tanto pressing heavily onto her kunai.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried again, preparing to fling himself at her attacker.

Sasuke managed to grab him by the arm and throw him back a few feet.

"Idiot! You see that gas? It's probably poisonous!"

"You're the idiot! That's why we have to help her!" Naruto yelled back, his voice and expression somewhere between fury and panic, as he started towards the kunoichi again.

"What good will we be if we get caught in it too!" Sasuke hissed back. "We have to attack from long-range."

Naruto halted, struggling with his emotions. His instinct was to fly to Sakura's aid without a second thought, but he knew that Sasuke was right.

"What should we do?" he finally grit out through clenched teeth.

Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, another cry rang out from the pair ahead of them, only this time, it was a male's voice.

Both boys immediately zeroed in on their teammate. Sasuke's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up and a second later, Naruto, who had been momentarily dumbfounded, uttered an awed, "Sakura...chan."

Though she was still trapped inside the cloud of most likely poisonous gas, Sakura had managed to retrieve a second kunai from her pouch with her left hand as she continued to defend herself with the kunai in her right. She had just sunk the second weapon deep into the right thigh of the man in front of her, causing him to emit the cry they had just heard. They watched, shocked, as she grabbed the blade of his tanto with her left hand, holding him in place as she drove her other kunai into his remaining good leg. With another loud exclamation of pain, the man sank to the ground. Sakura then delivered a swift kick to his head, rendering him unconscious, before jumping backwards, away from him and the rapidly thinning cloud of deadly fumes.

She turned to look at them, cheek, bicep, and back slowly seeping blood while her left hand dripped with it. They relaxed as she gave them a small smile and took a shaky step towards them.

The moment of relief lasted only a moment, however, before first confusion and then pain swept across Sakura's face. Before the two boys could even blink, Sakura brought her hands up to clutch at her chest before falling to her knees in a violent coughing fit.

Naruto and Sasuke were momentarily frozen in shock. Only after she ceased coughing and slumped sideways to the ground did they remember themselves and rush to her side.

When they reached her, she was curled in on herself, both hands gripping her throat and both eyes screwed shut. She appeared to be having trouble breathing. Her shoulders heaved up and down as her gasps for air increased in speed and intensity.

'_She's hyperventilating_!' Sasuke realized, his shock quickly being replaced with alarm.

"What's wrong with her!" Naruto asked in horror as he knelt beside the struggling girl.

Instead of answering, Sasuke reached down to grab her wrists and pulled her hands away from her throat. He then turned her over on her back, trying to give her lungs as much room to expand as possible. When her breathing only became more laborious, he cursed under his breath and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her to get her attention.

"Sakura! Oi, Sakura! You need to calm down! You've got to try to regulate your breathing!" he commanded urgently.

Sakura finally cracked one eye open, taking a few moments to successfully focus on him because of the pain.

"Sasuke...(_gasp_)...kun...(_gasp_)." She shifted her gaze to her blonde teammate. "Na...(_gasp_)...ruto."

"Shhh, don't try to talk too much Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to reason with her. "Just hold on, we're gonna get you out of here." He looked up and caught Sasuke's gaze, panic barely concealed in his wide blue eyes

When Sasuke looked back down, Sakura was once again looking at him.

"You-" she started to speak again before she was cut off by another round of coughing.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded with her.

She was stubborn, however, and managed to get out between her gasps and coughing, "You...(_wheeze_)...you all...(_gasp, gasp_)...ok...(_cough, wheeze_)...?"

Sasuke had to force himself to not roll his eyes. Here she was, bleeding, immobile, and struggling to breathe, and she was worried about _them_.

He let out a sigh. "We're fine," he assured her a bit tersely.

The corners of her mouth lifted in the slightest of smiles before pain reclaimed her features.

"Sorry... (_wheeze_)," she whispered pitifully. "He...(_gasp_)...got me...(_wheeze, wheeze_). The...(_gasp, cough_)...the gas."

"Sakura," Sasuke growled out, preparing to scold her for talking again. He never got the chance, however, because Sakura was suddenly coughing and hacking so violently, the force of the attack caused her to sit up and double over, arms wrapped around her torso as if she were trying to hold herself together. This continued for several moments before she gave a final, great, shuddering cough and froze. Her hair created a curtain around her face, shielding her from their view.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called tentatively, reaching out a hand towards her.

She slowly raised her head to look at them. Sasuke felt panic wrench at his gut when she turned to face him fully. Blood was staining her lips red, rolling down both sides of her mouth before dropping off her chin onto her arms which were still wrapped tightly around her stomach.

She slowly reached up to touch her wet lips before looking down at her fingers, stained crimson with her blood. Wide-eyed, she raised her gaze back to Sasuke's face, green irises locking with black. For one second, all Sasuke could see were her eyes, wide, fearful, and pained, but bright. Impossibly bright. Then her face drained of all color, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed, unmoving, into his arms.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Hello FF world! This is my very first story! Huzzah! It will probably be either 2 or 3 chapters, depending on how long it takes me to wrap it up (I actually have most of it written already). It takes place sometime in between the Chuunin Exams and Sasuke's desertion. You could think of it as a sort of filler episode I suppose. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Let me know whatcha think and I'll put up a new chapter soon if people are interested :)


	2. Chapter 2

Breathe

AN: First of all, I want to say thank you to **whitexgodess**, **StephJoann**, and **lily** for being my first reviewers ever! Your reviews put a big ole smile on my face :D

Also, thank you to everyone who has followed the story! I'm so glad it was interesting enough to grab some attention :)

I decided to go ahead and do 3 chapters because I'm not quite finished with the whole thing yet, but I didn't want to make you wonderful readers wait. I've got finals this week, so it would have taken me awhile. That being said, this chapter is a lot shorter than the first one. Sorry! Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Sasuke stared down at the girl in his arms for a full five seconds before he realized she wasn't breathing. He grabbed her arm and pressed his fingers to her wrist, desperate to find a pulse. He waited one second. Then two. Then three.

There was nothing.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's uncharacteristically soft voice reached his ears, muted in fear of the answer to his unvoiced question.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but the words caught in his throat. He swallowed and tried again.

"I don't... she's, she's not..."

And then he felt it.

He grasped her arm tighter and pressed his fingers just a little harder against her wrist. There, he could just make out the weak, stuttering pulse that signified the beating of her heart. It was faint, but it was there.

"Kakashi!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura needed medical attention and she needed it now. The Jounin would best know how to treat her until they could get to a hospital.

Sasuke finally tore his eyes away from Sakura's deathly pale face and looked over his shoulder just in time to see their sensei catch the final nin from behind with a kunai. He was kneeling beside his fallen student before the rouge's body hit the ground. His eyes, both visible after having used his Sharingan during the battle, first widened as he took in Sakura's injuries and then narrowed as he began checking her vitals.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice low and rough, laced with concern for the girl before him.

"She was caught off guard. He surprised her with some sort of hidden poisonous fog," Sasuke replied, looking down at his teammate. "She managed to get out of it, but she had already been exposed."

Naruto, still unusually silent, stood a little off to the side, teeth and fists clenched in frustration at how helpless he had been to help his teammate. Kakashi quickly wrapped bandages around the deep gash in Sakura's left hand before he gently lifted the limp girl from Sasuke's arms, careful not to do any more damage to her torn back.

"We have to get back to Konoha as soon as possible." He turned to look grimly at the bodies on the ground behind them. "Unfortunately, we don't have time to deal with them, alive or not. If she's going to have a chance, we have to get her back to Tsunade-sama. If anyone can help Sakura, she can."

The two boys nodded and they all prepared to take to the trees when a low, wheezing chuckle caused them all to spin back around. The nin Sakura had been facing was struggling to sit up, hand clenched around the kunai buried in his left thigh.

"It doesn't matter who you take her to or how fast you get there." He grinned sadistically. "She was lucky enough to get a taste of my special asphyxiant." He paused to sneer triumphantly at the trio of males before him. "No one has ever recovered after inhaling it. That pathetic, useless little wench is done for." He winced as he wrenched the kunai out of his leg.

As the last words left the rogue's mouth, Naruto exploded.

"_Useless_?! _Pathetic_?! She _kicked_ your sorry ass! She _beat_ you!"

The man responded with another dark chuckle.

"Beat me?" he echoed, amused. "I don't think so. I'm not the one who's dead." His eyes flickered up to Sakura's prone body. "Or will be, shortly," he amended with a smirk. "It's a pity, really," he continued in a voice full of false remorse, his gaze becoming lusty as his eyes roved over Sakura's prone body. "I probably could have gotten a good time out of her. She seemed like a feisty one."

His innocent façade fell away completely as he turned his head to lock eyes with Naruto and stretched his lips into a nasty grin.

"It would have been fun to make her scream."

The remainder of Naruto's self-control snapped and he launched himself at the nin with an incoherent roar of rage, fully intending to kill the man in the most painful way possible. He did not reach his target, however, because he was stopped mid-flight by someone jerking him backwards by the back of his jacket. He fell hard on his backside before looking up to see Kakashi standing between him and the rogue nin, and his anger, which had been briefly forgotten in his surprise, came boiling back even stronger than before.

"What the _hell_, Kakashi!" he yelled at his teacher, leaving off the usual honorific in his fury. "Didn't you hear what he said about Sakura-chan?! I'm gonna kill that bas-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi interrupted him without turning to face him. "I know how you're feeling right now. Believe me, I do. But you can't let yourself get run away with those feelings. He may be the only one who knows how to cure Sakura," he gestured to the still smirking man on the forest floor. "We need him alive."

Naruto grit his teeth and stared down at the ground. Kakashi was right. This man was the best chance Sakura had of surviving. He realized with a start that his sensei was no longer holding the girl. He turned to see her cradled once again in Sasuke's arms.

Sasuke himself had his eyes screwed shut and his jaw clenched tightly as Sakura's head lolled against his shoulder. When he opened his eyes to glare at the dirt at his feet, his normally dark onyx irises were a bloody red as his own anger manifested itself in the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai. In fact, had Kakashi not placed the unconscious Sakura back into his arms, he would have charged the rogue ninja himself.

He felt something warm and wet on his hand and grimaced, loosening his grip on the wounded girl which had tightened in his fury. He watched as Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves only to reappear behind the man on the ground. Startled, the rogue spun quickly and came face to face with the Jounin. Before the man could release the cry of dismay that had formed in his throat as he stared into Kakashi's Sharingan, his eyes unfocused, his jaw went slack, and he slumped unceremoniously back to the ground. Kakashi bent down to retrieve the now unconscious man and then looked to his blonde student.

"Naruto, I want you to make two clones and have them carry this guy. I want both of us to be ready to fight if there are more of them out there. I'll lead and you bring up the rear. Sasuke, you carry Sakura."

Naruto reluctantly formed the two requested clones who relieved Kakashi of the heavy rogue ninja and held the man firmly between them in a purposefully bruising grip. With one final nod, Kakashi turned back toward Konoha and they all leapt into the trees, desperation urging them faster with every step and each one secretly terrified of the consequence if they were not fast enough.

The next forty-five minutes were some of the most agonizing in Sasuke's life. His muscles screamed in protest as he flew through the trees, clutching his unconscious teammate to his chest. He had never run so hard for so long. His pace never slowed however. The damp warmth slowly seeping through his shirt and the light bump of Sakura's head against his collarbone whenever he landed on another tree branch continually spurred him onward.

When they had first started their frantic flight back to Konoha, Sasuke had glanced down at her every few minutes hoping for some sign of life, but he had soon given that up. Every time he looked down, he would see the dried trails where the blood had rolled down her chin. He would see the slice on her cheek from the rogue's kunai. He would see her closed eyes, her pinched, pale face, and her eyebrows furrowed in a tortured expression. He would see her unnatural stillness.

A stillness that all too closely resembled death.

She looked so wrong lying there in his arms, bruised and broken. She was supposed to be warm and full of life, like Spring. She was pure and innocent. She wasn't supposed to be tainted by blood and pain. She was too fragile.

But she wasn't really, was she? He had seen her resilience. He had seen her grab the blade of the rogue's tanto, willingly bearing the pain to defeat the man and do her part to protect her team. He knew she struggled to keep pace with him and Naruto and that she hated feeling weak and left behind. He knew she worked hard and put in extra time for training. He also knew she hated being protected. But that was who he was, a protector. Where he failed with his family, he vowed never again to fail. He would protect his precious people so that he never had to lose one again. And if she hated him for it, then so be it. If it meant she was safe, he would gladly bear her hate.

But he had been unable to keep his vow.

For here she lay, her life slipping further and further away. And there was nothing he could do. Nothing but push harder and hope desperately that it was enough. He was helpless.

Naruto's voice brought him out of his dark thoughts and he realized that he was once again staring into Sakura's drawn face.

"There are the gates!" Naruto yelled from behind him.

Sasuke looked up to see the broad green doors that marked the main entrance of the village. He tightened his hold on Sakura as he shot out of the tree line and onto the wide dusty path that led up to the gates, the sight of the village giving him the energy for one last burst of speed.

"Naruto! Have them take him directly to Ibiki for interrogation!" Kakashi called back, glancing over his shoulder to jerk his chin at the still limp man between Naruto's clones. "You and Sasuke get Sakura to the hospital now! I'll get Tsunade-sama!"

Kakashi waited for their nods of affirmation before he and the clones dashed through the gates and split off to their specified destinations. Sasuke, Sakura still securely in his arms, followed a second later with Naruto right on his heels.

Naruto edged up alongside his teammates and gazed down at Sakura's still form. Then he looked up and met Sasuke's eyes, nodding once before sprinting ahead to warn the doctors and ensure they would be ready for Sakura as soon as she arrived.

As Sasuke turned the corner to the hospital, he took one last look at Sakura's face.

'_Please_,' he stared down at her intently, as if she could hear his desperate thoughts. '_Please, Sakura_.'

And then he was through the doors, the awaiting medics lifted Sakura from his arms, and she was whisked away through a set of double doors labeled 'Emergency' with a blaring red light standing sentinel above them.

Sasuke immediately felt the absence of her warmth and his arms, which felt heavier than lead after carrying her for so long, fell numbly to his sides. He stood staring at the room into which Sakura had disappeared for what seemed like an eternity before Naruto, who had been waiting for them in the lobby, came to stand beside him.

"She'll be all right," the boy muttered as his deep blue eyes slid up to stare at the pulsing red light over the doors. "She has to be..." His voice faded off into a whisper as he tried to convince himself of his own words.

Sasuke pressed his mouth into a grim line, lowering his head so that his bangs fell over his eyes and hid his expression as several nurses approached him and Naruto. He allowed himself to be led to a room as self-loathing began to wash over him in waves. He hadn't been able to keep his vow. Once again, he couldn't protect those who were precious to him. He had failed.

Sakura was dying.

Ta-da! Sorry to leave you hanging like that. The last chapter will be up soon, I promise! Any comments, questions, advice, criticism, whatever is welcome!

Kimmi-chan92


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh my goodness, I am so so sorry this took me so long to upload! I didn't have all of this part typed and I had some serious writer's block for awhile. **

**Thank you once again to whitexgodess and lily for your reviews and to my new reviewers: Hearts grow, Juli94, Amanda, LadyMartel4000, and Anonymous ;) Also thank you to everyone who favorited/followed the story!**

**So this is the last chapter of Breathe. I will warn you that it gets pretty angsty. I wrote it and was like, woah. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Breathe

That was how he came to be in this hospital room, berating himself for allowing yet another person he cared for to be torn away from him. If Tsunade couldn't help her... If he had to watch one more important person die, Sasuke didn't know what he would do. He didn't know if he could take it.

He eventually leaned back onto the stiff bed and looked blankly up at the ceiling. He lifted his arms up in front of his face, staring at the blood that stained his forearm covers.

Sakura's blood.

Some splotches had dried and turned a brownish-red, while others still glistened a bright crimson. His stomach twisted sickeningly as a sudden wave of disgust rolled over him and he ripped off the offending pieces of clothing and flung them against the far wall. He watched as they slid to the floor, leaving a dark red smear against the blindingly white paint of the room.

Something akin to panic began to well up inside him, pushing his heart up to his throat. Now there was more. He was only making it worse! He clutched his shirt with one hand trying to calm down, only to bring it away again stained red. Frantically, he looked down to see his shirt covered in more blood. His breathing began to speed up and he started to sweat as images he thought he locked away a long time ago rose unbidden to his mind.

He saw his clansmen, lying on the streets of the compound. He saw his aunt and uncle. He saw his mother and father crumpled on the floor. And blood. Always the blood.

But now there was something new. Now he saw before him a small body with a mop of pink hair surrounded by a puddle of crimson. Suddenly, her head lolled sideways and he was staring into Sakura's dulled, lifeless eyes.

"_You couldn't save me!_" they seemed to accuse. "_You were too weak!_"

'_No!'_ he screamed in his mind, gripping his head in his hands. _'No, no, no, no, no!'_

An incoherent cacophony of shouting voices reached his ears and began to grow louder. But how? Everyone was dead. Why could he hear their voices? He slowly began to come back to the present, registering the hard bed beneath him and the sound of his harsh pants filling the room. He looked up in time to see a group of medics—the source of the shouting—rush by his door. The words he heard banished any thoughts of the past from his mind.

"They need help in ER 6!"

"She's not responding!"

"Where is Tsunade-sama?!"

"Nothing they're trying is working!"

Immediately, he was up and running. He somehow made his way back to the red-lighted double doors and burst through them, eyes darting left and right, searching for the group that had run by his room. He heard more shouting ahead to his right and he tore around the corner just in time to see several medics disappear into a room at the end of the hallway. He sprinted after them then slid to a stop and grasped the doorframe. What he saw rooted him to the spot.

Six medic nin were huddled around a bed on the far side of the room. As one of them shifted to the side, he caught sight of Sakura's profile. Her eyes were still closed, but her eyebrows were no longer drawn together in pain. The muscles in her face had gone slack. An oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth, hiding the rest of her profile from view. One of the medics began pumping on her chest with both hands. Her body jerked and twitched with each compression, but her faced remained smooth and unchanged. Unfeeling.

Sasuke felt detached from his body, like he was an outsider watching the scene unfold before him like some sort of sick movie. A part of him noted that this was probably some sort of defense mechanism to keep him from losing his mind. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. There was no way that Sakura was lying on the hospital bed, not breathing. No way her heart, which was always so full of life and love, had stopped beating. He vaguely heard someone yell at him to move and felt his body be shoved sideways toward the wall. His eyes never left Sakura's face, however. There was no way she was gone. Dead.

_Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead._

The word echoed around in his mind as he was pulled back to reality by a high keening sound, which he realized was her heart monitor which had flat lined. He then registered that the one who had yelled at him and swept him aside was Tsunade. She had joined the rest of the medics around the bed, a syringe filled with a clear liquid grasped in her hand. After plunging the needle into Sakura's neck and dropping the empty syringe on a small tray beside the bed, Tsunade's hands began to glow with chakra as she hovered over Sakura's lifeless body. A second later, a pair of hands grabbed him and tried to pull him out of the room, but as he became fully aware of his surroundings, he began to fight against them.

"Sasuke, you need to go."

It was Kakashi's voice. Sasuke tried to twist and pull away from the grip on his arm and shoulder. He couldn't leave!

Couldn't Kakashi see Sakura was...?

Didn't he know that she...?

"Sasuke! There's nothing we can do. You need to leave, now. She wouldn't want us to see her this way."

Sasuke continued to wrench his arm from Kakashi's grasp. He watched as Tsunade focused both of her hands over Sakura's heart. With a burst of chakra, Sakura's back arched off the bed before falling limply back down with a thump.

"Again," he heard Tsunade mutter.

He watched as Sakura's body rose off the bed once more before settling back onto the sheets below her. There was nothing.

"Dammit!" Tsunade growled. "Again!"

The results were the same.

Sasuke watched as the process was repeated over and over. Every time, Sakura would rise off of the bed only to fall back with a hollow thud.

He had no idea how many times this happened before the green glow of healing chakra sputtered out as Tsunade's hands fell limply to her sides in defeat.

Sasuke knew what that meant. His shoulders slumped as he lost his will to fight and finally allowed himself to be pulled towards the door. He wouldn't watch when Tsunade declared her truly gone. He couldn't. He waited to hear the quavering sigh or pained whisper that would announce her passing.

He heard the rustle of fabric and knew without having to look that they were pulling the stiff white sheet of the hospital bed over Sakura's face. The grip on his shoulder tightened as Kakashi too heard the tell tale sound that meant he had lost yet another comrade.

As the Jounin reached his free hand towards the door handle, Sasuke finally heard Tsunade's broken sigh.

"Take Sak- the body to the morgue. I'll perform a full aut-"

_Beep._

Tsunade broke off sharply at the same moment Sasuke stiffened and Kakashi's hand froze mid-reach.

_Beep._

Sasuke turned to see Tsunade staring at the heart monitor in disbelief. He watched as a singular wave ran its course across the screen before disappearing. He held his breath for three seconds before another blip traversed the black background of the monitor.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

The waves were beginning to come closer and closer together. As everyone continued to stare at the machine in incredulity, Tsunade turned and practically ripped the sheet away from Sakura's face. She pressed her fingers to Sakura's neck and waited. After a few moments, she looked up with wide eyes at Kakashi.

"She... she's alive!" It was almost as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

As if to confirm the woman's words, the waves on the monitor increased once more in speed, doubling their previous pace.

Then it happened.

Sakura's chest heaved in a sudden, forceful, gasping inhale.

There was a moment of complete silence and then she was obscured from sight by the team of medics who had finally shaken themselves from their stupor to huddle around her once again.

Tsunade's steely amber eyes flashed up to the pair that was still lingering in the doorway, their attention riveted on the bed and the young girl atop it. Kakashi slowly raised his one visible eye to meet the Hokage's amber ones.

"Get him out of here," she commanded, indicating Sasuke with a tilt of her head. Kakashi nodded before once more grasping Sasuke's shoulder and tugging him to the door. This time however, the boy did not struggle. He turned and allowed Kakashi to lead him back down the hallway towards his room. He remained silent as a warm sensation filled his chest and left his legs feeling weak beneath him.

Relief.

He had been so sure Sakura was gone. So convinced that he had lost another of his precious people forever. But now a sort of giddiness took hold in his mind. He felt like laughing and crying at the same time. He settled, however, for dropping heavily onto the firm mattress of the bed once Kakashi had escorted him back to his room. He looked up as his sensei turned back in the doorway to give him a slight bemused smile before shutting the door. Sasuke stared at the small window for several minutes.

As the truth of the situation finally set in, Sasuke closed his eyes, letting the giddy feeling wash over him, and felt his mouth stretch into a crooked smile.

Because he had seen her breathe. And it was one of the most wonderful things he had ever witnessed.

It was three days before Sakura was allowed visitors. By that time, the other members of Team 7 had been treated for their minor injuries and discharged. It was late in the morning, four days after the team's harrowing return trip from their mission and Sakura's brush with death. She sighed as she gazed out her window at the white clouds drifting lazily across the deep blue sky. It was such a beautiful day and she was stuck here in this stuffy room. She huffed again and crossed her arms, shifting her gaze to glare at the IV to which she was still hooked up. It was pumping the antidote to the gas she had inhaled into her bloodstream just in case Tsunade had missed some of the deadly asphyxiant during her healing sessions over the past few days.

Ibiki had made short work of extracting the ingredients and instructions for making the mixture from the rogue nin, who after being reduced to a gibbering mess by Kakashi's genjutsu, was willing to say anything to avoid any additional psychological tortures.

Sakura unconsciously lifted a hand to her neck where Tsunade had administered the antidote. Without it, she was told, she would have been dead. She hung her head as shame and self-loathing rolled over her like a tidal wave. Why? Why was she so weak? Why was it she was always the one that had to be rescued? She had promised herself that that would change! She had vowed to never again be a burden to her team! And yet look at her now. Her team had to come and save her once again. She had almost died!

Hot tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. She was pathetic, a joke of a kunoichi. Her team had taken out nine rogue ninja and she hadn't even been able to handle one. She fisted the sheets in her hands and willed her tears not to fall. She wiped at her eyes and stared down at the bandage wrapped around her left hand where she had grabbed the nin's tanto.

It was then that she heard voices approaching her room. Well, one really, really loud voice drowning out several others, actually.

"Sakura-chan!"

She only had a few seconds to wipe away the traces of her tears before the door burst open and Naruto sailed into the room. He slid to a stop beside her bed, teetering dangerously over his teammate as she flinched away from his flailing arms. Sakura sighed in relief as he was suddenly yanked back several feet. She looked up gratefully at her sensei who had no doubt just saved her from a painful and awkward experience. He simply smiled at her before taking a seat in the chair beside her bed.

"So, my little student, how are you feeling?" he asked in a light, teasing tone.

"Yeah, yeah, Sakura-chan! Do you feel ok? Does it hurt anywhere? Can I do anything to make you feel better?" Naruto shot rapid-fire questions off at her after springing back to her bedside, his blue eyes wide with concern.

She laughed nervously.

"Um, I'm really fine Naruto. Just a little sore here and there."

The last thing she wanted was Naruto playing doctor, though she couldn't bring herself to say it to his face when he looked so earnest. She gave the blonde a small smile, grateful for the distraction her team provided from her dark thoughts earlier.

Her team.

She realized with a start that one of her teammates was missing. She looked up to see that the dark-haired Uchiha was leaning against a wall in the far corner. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was glaring down at the ground.

_'He doesn't want to be here,'_ she thought, a pang of hurt squeezing her chest. _'He's probably annoyed with me. I deserve it, though. I'm a poor excuse for a ninja.'_ She lowered her eyes once more, missing the contemplative glance he sent her way a moment later.

His scrutinizing gaze first roved over her face. She looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were rimmed in red and he saw her give a slight sniffle. She was staring down at her hands that were lightly grasping the sheet that covered her legs. As Naruto continued to babble on about how glad he was that she was alright and what had been going on in the village the past few days, her hands gripped the sheet more tightly, turning her knuckles white. He could tell that she wasn't listening to the idiot. Something was bothering her. She winced slightly, and looked down at her bandaged left hand. He watched as something akin to disgust marred her features before she forced herself to look away and gave Naruto a fake smile, reassuring him once again that she felt much better now.

After a few more minutes, a nurse swept in to inform them that visiting time was up and Sakura needed to get some more rest. Naruto pouted as Kakashi ushered him towards the door, promising to come visit her again soon. Sasuke pushed off the wall and followed after them but paused to look back at the pink-haired girl. Her shoulders were sagging and her hair obscured her expression from view. She looked completely defeated.

"Sakura," her name left his lips before he could stop himself.

Her head snapped up in surprise and her wide emerald eyes met his gaze. He could see tears trembling on her eyelashes.

"S-Sasuke-kun! I didn't know you were still here," she looked nervously up at him before fixing her eyes resolutely on the white bed sheet as she once again fisted the fabric in her hands.

When he said nothing in reply, she glanced back up at his face. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but seemed to be struggling with whatever it was.

"Sasuke-kun?"

His eyes shifted back to her at the sound of his name. She watched in confusion as he turned around and put his hand on the doorframe. Was he just going to leave?

"You fought well."

His reply caught her completely off guard.

"What?" she managed to get out.

He said nothing for a moment and she wondered if that was all she was going to get. But then he looked back at her over his shoulder and spoke once more.

"You were strong. You didn't give up, even when things looked bad. You should be... proud," he turned back to the door as he uttered the last sentence.

Sakura could only gape. Where did that come from?

He stepped through the threshold, into the hallway and began to slide her door shut. When he had closed it halfway, he stopped and addressed her one last time, his voice softening in a way she had never heard before.

"But please, Sakura. Next time... just... be more careful."

And with that, he slid the door closed and Sakura could only stare at the spot he had been moments before.

His voice rang out in her mind.

_'You were strong.'_

_'You should be... proud.'_

_'Be more careful.'_

_'Please, Sakura.'_

She looked down at her hands again as she replayed Sasuke's words over and over.

Gradually, a small smile spread slowly across her face. So he wasn't upset with her. At least not for the reason she feared. He had been... worried. About her. But more importantly, he had acknowledged her, complimented her determination, told her she should be proud of herself.

A sudden surge of exhaustion overcame her and she settled back onto the pillows behind her as her eyes fluttered closed.

_'Sasuke-kun acknowledged me,'_ she thought sleepily. _'Maybe... maybe I _am _improving.'_

She continued to lay there and ponder as sleep overtook her.

_'I'm going to work hard to get stronger,'_ she promised herself as she drifted off. _'I'll never give up...'_

Smiling lightly, she fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, dark, onyx eyes were on her as she floated peacefully off to sleep. From the window in the door, he saw the gentle smile that curved her lips and matched it with a brief one of his own. He lingered at her door until her chest settled into an even, rhythmic rising and falling. He was glad that he had been able to lift her spirits. In this way, though it differed from his usual methods, he had once again acted as a protector. It was who he was, and that was a part of him that would never change.

And so, for a little while, Sasuke stayed and simply watched her breathe.

The End

**Whew! Well, that is the end of my first FF ever! It was so much fun! I hope you all enjoyed it and thank you once again for your wonderful support that inspired me to get off my lazy butt and write :)**

**I have several more ideas for stories that I hope to start on soon, so if you like my writing, be watching out for those! Thanks again and I'd appreciate any feedback you want to give me :)**

**Fun fact: This story was inspired when I was reading somewhere and saw the word asphyxiate. This idea immediately popped into my head. Just goes to show you can get inspiration from anywhere, I guess!**

**Kimmi-chan92**


	4. Epilogue

**A/N: I know I didn't announce this, but, surprise! There's more! I was asked to write an epilogue after I published the last chapter for Breathe, and I just couldn't refuse. This is dedicated to , who requested and was the inspiration for this epilogue. , I hope that this lifts your spirits and encourages you to stay strong and not give up. And to the rest of you, I hope you enjoy it! I now present you with the final installment of Breathe :)**

Breathe: Epilogue

Sakura finished zipping up her dress and let loose an exaggerated sigh of relief. Finally, she could go back to wearing normal clothes. She wrinkled her nose at the flimsy, ugly hospital gown she had been stuck in for the past week as she held it at arm's length, pinched between her pointer finger and thumb. With a flourish, she tossed the garment onto her now vacant hospital bed and smirked.

"Good riddance."

Her eyes traveled to the bedside table by the window where her hitai-ate was glinting in the sunlight. She walked around the bed to stand in front of the table, staring down at her headband before lifting a finger to trace the Konoha insignia emblazoned onto the shining metal.

_"You were strong."_

Sasuke's words to her echoed once again in her mind, as they had been doing every day since he had spoken them. Sakura allowed herself a brief smile before scooping up the headband and marching to the mirror in the adjoining bathroom. She centered the metal on the crown of her head before looping the ends around the back and under her hair. With a decisive tug, she secured the blue cloth in a knot at the base of her neck and let her hands fall back to her sides. Her eyes lifted to study the leaf emblem as it rested amidst her hair.

That headband meant that she, Haruno Sakura, was a kunoichi of the Leaf. It meant that she had earned her place among the ninja of Konoha. She had worked hard to get to where she was.

_"You should be... proud."_

As Sakura stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she saw a confidence in her eyes and posture that she had never seen or felt before.

_"I'll show everyone that I belong," _she thought with determination. _"I'll become a valuable asset, not only to my team, but to all of Konoha as well. I just have to give my all every day."_

She smiled once more at her reflection in the mirror.

_"I am strong."_

Then, with her head held high, she turned and strode purposefully out of the room.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Thirty minutes and a pile of paperwork later, Sakura was discharged. She thanked the medics who had watched over her for the duration of her hospitalization and made a note to stop by the Hokage Tower and give Tsunade her gratitude as well. With one final wave over her shoulder, Sakura made her way across the lobby and out the front doors.

"Sakura-chan!"

Her head whipped up in surprise.

There, waiting by the front gates of the hospital, was her team. Naruto was waving madly with a huge grin on his face while Kakashi stood behind him, looking up at her before snapping his ubiquitous orange book shut and sliding it into his weapon's pouch. Sasuke was leaning against one of the stone pillars that formed the entrance to the hospital with his arms folded across his chest.

"Guys..." Sakura trailed off as she approached them, surprised.

"Yo!" Kakashi smiled behind his mask and ruffled her hair.

One of her eyebrows lifted in puzzlement. "What are you all doing here?"

"Why, we're here to celebrate you getting out of the hospital, of course," Kakashi replied in a light teasing tone, removing his hand from her head.

"We're going to Ichiraku!" Naruto burst out, unable to contain himself. "Kakashi-sensei's treat!"

"If you're up for it, that is," her sensei amended.

Naruto's face instantly sobered. "Um, yeah... If—if you're not too tired or anything," he mumbled in a strained voice, glancing up at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

Sakura couldn't help herself. She tried to hide her smile behind her hand, but the look on Naruto's face sent her into a burst of giggles that had her shoulders shaking. Her hand wasn't doing much to muffle her laughter either.

"Of course I'm up for it! I'm a kunoichi of Konoha, after all. I wouldn't let something like this keep me down!" she beamed at the boy.

The effect was instantaneous. "Yatta! Let's go!" Naruto yelled, pumping a fist into the air and turning to run in the direction of his favorite restaurant. "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!"

Sasuke pushed off the pillar with a sigh and a mumbled "Dobe."

"Oi, Naruto," Kakashi called, strolling lazily after the blonde. "Just because I'm buying Sakura's doesn't mean I'm buying yours."

Sakura stood back and watched, barely stifling her laughter as Naruto came to a screeching halt and turned into a sputtering mess, throwing threats, pleas, and accusations at the Jounin in an effort to save his lunch plans.

Her giggles receded into a gentle smile. She was grateful for her their thoughtfulness; this was just what she needed to get back into the swing of things.

"You coming?"

Startled from her thoughts, Sakura looked up to see Sasuke glancing at her over his shoulder, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Oh! Uh, yeah," she stammered.

Sasuke started walking again, following after Naruto and Kakashi. Sakura stared at the Uchiha crest on his back for a few seconds, remembering his words to her in the hospital. Without really thinking, she took a few quick steps to catch up to the dark haired boy.

"Um... Sasuke-kun?" she called tentatively.

He paused and looked back at her, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Um, thank you. For what you said in the hospital," she fidgeted as she spoke, looking down at her intertwined fingers. "I... It helped me to realize some things about myself and I really needed to hear it. I'm gonna work harder from here on out. I just wanted to let you know I appreciated it. So... yeah. Thanks," she finished lamely.

When he didn't answer, she looked up to see him watching her. She grew even more nervous under his scrutiny and felt a flush began to creep up her neck to her face. After another moment of consideration, however, he nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned to once again trail after the still bickering Naruto and Kakashi.

After pouting one last time at his sensei, Naruto looked back and saw Sakura lagging behind everyone else.

"Oiiiiii! Sakura-chaaaaaaan! Come on, come on, hurry up!" he yelled back to her, beckoning her forward with another excited wave.

"Coming!" she yelled back, jogging lightly to catch up with them.

Sasuke watched as Naruto began to question her about what type of ramen she was going to order before launching into a lecture about the pros and cons of the different flavors. She simply listened with a smile on her face, for once enduring the full force of the idiot's obsession without complaint.

He could see that she carried herself differently than before. She seemed more sure of herself, more secure. Stronger.

He realized as he studied her that he had not completely failed in his role of protector. While he had not been able to keep her from harm physically, he had been able to protect Sakura from herself, from the doubt and uncertainty that would surely have been plaguing her if not for his affirmation of her strength. Even if it wasn't necessarily his intent, his words had helped her to become a better, more confident ninja. He had helped her to improve, to be better equipped to defend herself.

Sasuke smirked lightly to himself at this revelation. He watched as Sakura laughed at Kakashi and Naruto's antics, before his eyes slipped shut and his smirk softened into a faint smile.

He had been able to keep his vow after all.

~0~0~0~0~0~

**Whew! Ok, that took me waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy longer than it should have. But, I'm happy with it. This is the end for real this time. Thank you so much to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story and those who followed and favorited me as an author! Like I said before, I have a couple more ideas that I'm itching to try out. This was a great first run for me thanks to you loverly readers :) Thank you, thank you, thank you! You all are awesome!**

**Kimmi-chan92**


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